Workforce Solutions Alamo (WSA) works to bring together people and jobs in a 12-county region across South Texas, by providing solutions and resources for both businesses and job seekers. As it works to build a premier workforce with the skills needed for Alamo-area employers to gain a competitive edge in the global economy, WSA hopes to share with the community information that will inform, prepare and provide for that objective.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

San Antonio economy has strong momentum at mid-year

As we celebrate the grand opening of Allstate Insurance Co.’s new customer service center and the nearly 600 jobs it will bring to San Antonio, it’s another sign of the momentum in our local economy.

These new positions are among the more than 1,000 new jobs and three new companies that the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation helped bring to the San Antonio economy in the first quarter of the year. The number of prospects actively considering locating to San Antonio is up this year, which also shows that we’re not standing still.

Last week, our prospects for a future with reliable energy got stronger with the vote by the CPS Energy Board of Trustees to invest $50 million in the University of Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) new Sustainable Research Institute. That puts San Antonio at the forefront of the development of new energy resources, a field with new impetus as a result of the oil spill fouling the Gulf of Mexico. CPS’ funding also strengthens UTSA’s research portfolio, moving it one step closer to its goal of Tier 1 status. That will make San Antonio even more attractive to companies needing a well educated workforce or access to top scientists.

And we have new resources for bringing jobs to the city and helping companies to stay here and grow, thanks to the new public-private partnership that expands EDF’s role with the help of our allies at the city and county.

This has been a good year so far, and we’re in a good position at mid-year 2010. San Antonio looks like it will continue to be a stand out as our nation climbs out of the recession.